Goblin's have been around in magic for a very long time. From Vintage to Modern these green monsters have been surprising most players with the explosiveness of any Red Aggro deck, but with the ability to use very effective burn spells to win games. Goblins have once again come around, and red's tribal can only get better with the extensive card pool that modern offers that is growing with every set.

The simple question is "Why shouldn't i just play burn?", the answer is simple; burn has the ability to kill the opponent as quickly as possible(Turn 3-4 clock to be exact, fast right?), with more instant/sorcery speed spells but gets put down quickly by such cards as Leyline of Sanctity and Chalice of the void. Burn has recently started splashing additional colors to deal with these cards, but it opens them up to additional damage from shock lands and fetches, which in turn causes them to lose life, something the deck can not afford to do. This makes the deck rely on its sideboard in order to apply the same pressure games 2 and 3.

Modern Goblins offers players the ability to get a more aggro approach then burn does. With the tribal theme, card synergy, and the ability to make use of the best burn spell in the format(Lightning Bolt and of courseGoblin Grenade)this deck offers a variety of ways to kill the opponent at the same speed as burn, without getting flat lined by cards like Leyline of Sanctity. With the use of 1-3 cmc drops, goblins can kill an opponent by turns 3-4 against most decks if left unchecked.

Core

The basic shell of the deck has changed since the reprint of piledriver:

This is a newer shell of goblins and it is the most effective we have to date. This shell is built around piledriver. Using the swing-wide approach, you cast a lot of low CMC gobos to swing all at once, focusing your opponents attention on piledriver, while also providing a considerable amount of pressure at the same time from your other goblins as well your burn spells.
One thing I'm sure everyone has noticed is the one BIG factor...no lords. From thorough testing with a lot of players, we have found that in order to effectively use piledriver, we have to focus on fast one and two drop goblin creatures. Casting a turn 3 Goblin Chieftain in itself, is very effective. But losing it to a Lightning Bolt, is a tempo loss, something the deck can't afford to do in the first 4 turns. So by creating tokens, and casting low CMC goblins, we can make goblin piledriver more of a target for removal spells, but also still dealing the damage we need.

Legion Loyalist - A very underestimated card, this little gobo is one of the best cards in the deck. With haste and our immense amount of one drops, getting its battalion online is rarely an issue, and he can turn a hopeless scenario into a massive win. Don't forget about his last move, you can't be blocked by tokens! Run 3-4 (I prefer 4 myself).

Goblin Guide - Arguably the best 1 cmc creature in the format, goblin guide needs no introduction. He's a 2/2 with haste and possibly makes your opponent draw a land, but paired with Foundry Street Denizen and Legion Loyalist...he makes up the third part of the dream team! Run 4.

Lightning Bolt - This card needs no introduction, its the best 1 cmc damage spell in the format. Run 4.

Goblin Grenade - The most "random" card in the deck, Gobo nade legitimately wins you games that you thought were lost. However, top decking this card late game after a board wipe, is very painful. However, it is the best burn spell we have for the deck and the main reason to run goblins in modern. Run 3-4.

Two Drops

Mogg War Marshal - One of the best two drop creature we have for gobos. A great utility card, it helps avoid sweepers, can provide chump blockers, and also has great synergy with all of the above cards. Foundry Street Denizen triggers twice off of MWM, once off of himself, and another off of his token, on the beginning of your next turn if he remains on the board and you do not pay the echo cost Foundry again triggers starting the turn as a 2/1 because of the additional goblin token he creates . As you can tell, it is a great card. Run 3-4.

Goblin Piledriver - Needs no introduction for any old legacy players, this card is an absolute power house. The card itself, is pretty self explanatory. In order to use this card effectively, it's better to use the swing-wide approach. Using cards like Dragon Fodder, Krenko's Command, and Mogg War Marshal creates a board state where lots of small creatures are attacking all at once, improving piledriver, while also allowing you to deal that extra bit of damage to seal the game. Run 2-4.

Lands

The land aspect is really up to not only your play style, but also your meta. If you have a meta where Blood Moon is most effective, then run more basic mountains and less utility lands. If you find you have lots of board clear in your meta, than run Mutavault. It all varies depending on you. However one thing is to remain clear, you need at least 14-16 mountain producing lands in your deck. The other 4-5 Flex Slot Lands, are your choice.

Additional Goblins

Even with the core list of the deck, there are still additional options to explore when it comes to goblins in modern. Remember we do have 8 flex slots we have to fill, so here is some more examples of goblins in modern.

Goblin Cohort - The theory behind him is another Goblin Guide without haste, but to be perfectly honest, it has a major draw back. Drawing this guy after a board sweep is lame, and I don't usually run this card anywhere in my 75. If you are going to play him, Run 1-2.

Frenzied Goblin - The idea is simple, keep this in your hand for an alpha strike, target the main creature that is a problem on the board and swing. Here's the one concern I have with this card, what happens when you draw this after your board is wiped? It would and has made me very sad on numerous occasions. If you must, Run 1-2.

Goblin Wardriver - I have used him on numerous occasions, I have taken him out of my list and out him back in. This card can be used effectively in both the token version and token-less version to great effect. He is a 2/2 body and is a goblin, can get pretty big paired with [/card]Shared Animosity[/card]. I usually only Run 1-2 of them since you don't really need any more then that. Top decking him late game after a board wipe is terrible.

Spike Jester - A fairly new addition to goblins, this 3/1 with haste is a monster for two mana. Paired with Legion Loyalist, his trample and first strike usually save him from being killed. With Foundry Street Denizen, on turn 2 you can deal up to 5 damage with just the two of them. He is a great card...however, (B)(R) casting cost is a bit strict at times, and having too many of them in your hand can be hazardous early game. Run 2-3.

Mardu Scout - One of the newer goblins we have, this card has great synergy with most of the deck. The ability to Dash, allows him to avoid sweepers, it also helps trigger Foundry Street Denizen quite often. This allows for a constant 5 damage when paired together. In my honest opinion, the card still has potential, and further testing is required. Run 2-3.

Goblin King - This lord can used either as a mainboard meta call, or a sideboard choice. I use to run him mainboard because of the amount of zoo in my area. Either way, a lord that gives goblins mountainwalk is huge and he goes great with Blood Moon. Runs over certain decks with very little issues but then again that is only certain decks. Run 1-2.

Goblin Chieftain - The best lord in the format for goblin's. +1/+1 and haste for all other goblin's...but has haste itself. This card can be your saving grace or the worst casting mistake of your life. Paired with goblin piledriver, the card works great. But if he dies to removal early on, its a tempo loss, and the your plans of swinging huge lose with it as well. Run 2-4

Goblin Rabblemaster - I have tested this card for awhile now and I found him to be great when I needed him, but terrible when i didn't. Against decks like burn, 8rack, tron, or infect, he's great because they can't really keep up with his sheer power. The problem is when you are facing Zoo, Fish, Bgx Junk, Soul Sisters, or Hate bears, he is just sub par. You want to build your board position against these decks and with rabblemaster you can't. If you want to run him, Run 1-3.

Reckless Bushwhacker - It is exactly what you are thinking. Another goblin bushwhacker...but with a drawback this time. It requires a spell to be cast in order trigger its surge cost which costs (1)(R), otherwise, it's just a 2/1 goblin with haste. But that's not a problem for us considering 75% our creatures/spells are 1 cmc. This goblin is a staple in 8Whack lists Run 3-4

How to Play Gobos/Goblin Archetypes
(Side Note: I will go into more in depth analysis on how to fight and win against each individual deck later in the primer, these are just summaries of some of the more popular goblin decks that have come up over the years).
In order to better describe to you on how to play goblins, it is all depending on the style of goblins deck you are playing. In the end, it is all aggro based, cast creature's and kill the opponent, but there different ways to do that.

No-Lord's Goblin's
The "No-Lords" deck idea is to rid ourselves of the tempo loss by casting Chieftain, and try to cast faster lower cmc goblins to fill the board as quickly as possible, then go for the alpha strike with Goblin Bushwhacker. The deck itself usually consists of color splashing, green being the most popular including cards such as Atarka's Command. Sounds simple right? Well we still have to face a lot of decks containing board wipe cards like Pyroclasm, Anger of the Gods and Electrolyze[/c]. So it is up to the player to judge whether or not it is a good idea to rush the opponent or wait for the best opportunity to strike. This can vary depending on the type of deck you facing.

8Whack Goblin's
This is a more budget version of goblins and it is a mono red deck. It consist's of the basic shell of any goblin deck with the same idea, cast lots of low cmc goblins and swing fast. This version however contains both Goblin piledriver as well as Goblin Chieftain, utilizing the speed and effectiveness of the deck while making itself more vulnerable to cards like Ghostly Prison. Much like other goblin decks, you are still affected by board wipe's and should be wary when attempting to set up a board state, but don't hesitate when it comes to getting the kill.

Vial Goblins
As mentioned before there is a more in depth discussion inside this thread.

Gobot's
Gobot's or Kuldotha goblins is a deck that has been around since the introduction of Kuldotha Rebirth. Much like any other goblin deck, you use the speed and synergy of goblins by casting low cmc creatures and swinging early for the win. Gobot's introduces the use of Free/low cmc artifact creatures such as Signal Pest, Memnite, and Ornithopter in order to kill the opponent that much quicker, usually obtaining a turn 3 kill with no interaction from your opponent.

Support/Sideboard Options

Much like any tribal deck you don't really want to stray away from the overall feel of the deck, you want fast one drop spells, followed by a lord or pump effect and win. There are other support/sideboard cards you can use to help you achieve the overall effect, without going too far away from this but staying on the burn path is the correct course of action, so here's some cards that can help you do that;

Artifact Removal

Smash to Smithereens - Great in a Mono Red shell, destroys the artifact and bolts the opponent, highly recommended.

Shattering Spree - If you have a meta with a lot of Affinity, i recommend this card. Against Affinity, it sadly operates only at sorcery speed, but is able to take out a land, a Vault Skirge, and Cranial Plating on turn three, also recommended.

Shattering Blow - This card does work against Wurmcoil Engine, but is not very useful as our other two main artifact removal spells. Only recommended if you have a tron heavy meta.

Creature Removal

Terminate - A solid removal spell for RB Goblins to nail Siege Rhino, Tarmogoyf, and Deceiver Exarch, but costing two mana can be somewhat tight and is able to be countered by Spell Snare. Not recommended in UWR control or kiki match ups due to the great counter package, but great vs junk and zoo.

Dismember - A somewhat better option at times then Terminate, this card offers a variety of ways to use this effectively. Against kiki, you can leave up two mana open and the end of the turn, when the opponent casts either Pestermite/Deceiver Exarch, they can only tap down one land leaving you able to pay Phyrexian mana to take their creature out in response to Kiki being cast. Life loss is crucial, recommended only running in sideboards. It also makes quick work of opposing Tarmogoyfs, Kor Firewalker, and Master of Waves.

Warren Weirding - A possible solution to Bogles, this card has seen some play in legacy. I have yet to test or see it used to its effectiveness, however, could be used with the goblin tribal theme. Not a bad plan on turn 4 to use on yourself, sac your Mogg War Marshal, followed by a kicked Goblin Bushwhacker.

Grave Hate

Tormod's Crypt - Provides graveyard hate for free, letting you continue applying pressure rather than disrupt your curve, at the cost of spending a whole card to do so.

Relic of Progenitus - Similar to Tormod's Crypt but it can both net a card in return and be used gradually. That being said, represents a more sizable mana investment than it may seem.

Surgical Extraction - Used usually in RB Gobos, but with Phyrexian mana, you can use this in almost any shell. Great against Combo decks like storm, twin, and living end, you can remove the main pieces, effectively slowing down they're decks, allowing goblins speed to over run them.

Combo Hate

Earwig squad - Not to be overlooked, this card has been stopping combo since Lorwyn. Works well against Tron, Living End, Ad Nauseam, and Ascendancy. Its also great games 2-3 when your opponent has used the sideboard in their hate towards you, and you can take it all away by turn 3.

Duress/Thoughtseize - Both cards need no introduction, in my honest opinion, i use duress because i do not want to lose life in a deck where I don't have any ways of gaining it but thoughtseize is the better card.

Anti Lifegain

Atarka's Command - A staple in No-Lord's lists, this card has taken goblins above and beyond expectations. We replaced Goblin Chieftain with this for a few reasons. First, we usually only need to the pump effect of chieftain on the turn we are trying to finish off the opponent, making us more open to removal and in turn, becoming less efficient. With Atarka's, we can do a sneaky alpha strike, causing your opponent to focus on removing chump creatures, as opposed to removing one high value target. It gives us extra hate towards life-gain, which is something we have trouble with. It also gives us an extra non-targeted bolt effect to get around Leyline of Sanctity.

Skullcrack - Operating as a one-time way of preventing life gain, Skullcrack is ill-suited in a metagame that only gains life incrementally through Kitchen Finks, Kor Firewalker or Siege Rhino. Unless Martyr of Sands becomes a thing or if you hope to set a trap for an opponent’s blocking Kor Firewalker, Skullcrack’s ability to only prevent life gain for one turn simply does not do enough. It is used much more in burn, as oppose to goblins

Everlasting Torment - From most recent goblin lists, this card has been in the sideboard quite a bit, as it should be. If you are running a Mono Red shell, then this card is great because it stops all forms from life gain; from lifelink, to Kitchen Finks, it is a very effective card. If you are splashing black, i highly recommend Rain of Gore instead, because it is 1 cmc less, and has the ability to damage your opponent.

Versatility Cards

Rakdos Charm - Additional artifact removal for Affinity, instant speed removal against Tron to prevent a blocking Wurmcoil Engine from gaining life, exiles Living End and Storm’s graveyards, can exile a graveyard in response to a Snapcaster Mage being cast, can provide the last few points of damage against a deck that has created a wall of 4/5s against your 1/1s, and can burn out Twin players after they have combo-ed off. The versatility makes it worth running in builds that can be sure to cast it when it is needed.

Blood Moon - Effective Tron/UWR control hate, blood moon is one of the very powerful sideboard cards we have in the format. Paired with Goblin King, this card is a monster in certain match ups. In the current modern metagame, it is great against Tron variants, decent against Abzan, but it might be wrong to board in against UWR now that they have access to all their fetches, even though it is still able to turn off their Celestial Collonade. Also great against zoo, considering they run little to zero basics.

Guttural Response - A card that counters the ever-annoying Electrolyze in the UWR or Twin matchups, Guttural Response is narrow, but can be huge swing in tempo.

Dragon's Claw - While not a popular choice, this artifact improves the race through lifegain against Burn, RDW and Gruul Zoo.

Spellskite - A sideboard staple in Modern, this card serves the dual purpose of protecting many of your most important goblins and greatly improving the Bogle match up. While not ideal since it is a non-proactive two-drop, its ability to devastate the plans of certain decks makes it a consideration.

Stoke The Flames - Players have recently started testing this card. The premise is there, in response to a sweeper effect, you tap two creatures and essentially, its a 2 RRFireblast. It seems like a solid plan, but I would highly recommend using this card in Token-Goblins, and not Token-Less Goblins. The reason being, you won't have enough untapped creatures in tokenless goblins to make use of this spell effectively. Now that's not saying that you shouldn't use it all, by all means test, that's what this primer is here for.

Shared Animosity - This card has been around with modern goblins since the beginning. It's an on again off again card, meaning players have used it with great success and kept it, and also have had very little benefit from it as well. The idea is simple, build up on army of goblins, bring out shared Animosity, swing, and overrun them. In my opinion, I have never been sad to see this card, it have won me countless games that I knew I would have lost otherwise.

Color Splashing

The main reason for splashing to Gruul or Rakdos colors is because of certain a few certain cards found in the format. Much like burn, we are susceptible to the same form of hate. Chalice of the Void and Ghostly Prison are by far the worst things an opponent can cast to battle against us. So we felt as a group, we needed some hate towards these cards in particular.

For goblin's, there are two primary colors we like to use besides the good old red; Black or Green. These two colors provide us with great sideboard options, as well as a few mainboard options as well.

Here are some sample lists provided by members here on the forums, as well as, local PPTQ/Daily event winners.
Here is the best list we have of any goblin list and it is an example of a No-Lord's List . It is by TreachTV and he placed first at his local PPTQ in Udine, Italy. (July 2015)

While fairly straightforward to play, there are some card interactions that are not immediately apparent and being aware of them can greatly improve your success with this deck. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

Legion Loyalist has a lot of text and all of it can be relevant against different decks. Keep in mind all of its applications. The token dodging ability in particular will let you steal many post-board games, first strike damage is great against Wurmcoil Engine and the trample ability is quite potent when paired with Shared Animosity

There are three separate timings of abilities in the deck and it is crucial to remember them, even if they seem obvious.

Goblin Bushwhacker’s kicked ability triggers when cast and boosts your other creatures even if the Bushwhacker is immediately killed. This often makes it a relatively safe play when attacking into multiple creatures or untapped mana.

Legion Loyalist and Shared Animosity are both attack triggers. While this is good since it gives you more information while you declare attackers, your plans can be disrupted if either permanent is destroyed before declaring attacks.

Goblin Chieftain’s ability is static and if he is destroyed mid-combat, your attacking force may suddenly be a lot less impressive. Be sure to take into account the possibility of losing your Chieftain when facing down untapped mana. Also, if Goblin Chieftain is destroyed pre-combat than any Goblins that he had granted haste will lose the ability and not be able to attack if cast that turn.

Don’t forget that Goblin Bushwhacker can be played unkicked. While it is almost always better to save it until it can be kicked, an unkicked Goblin Bushwhacker paired with a kicked one can let you push through lethal a turn early.

Sequencing is very important. Don’t get complacent and miss damage with Foundry Street Denizen or Goblin Bushwhacker because you played things slightly out of order.
Don’t just slam Goblin Guide turn 1 every time. Oftentimes Foundry Street Denizen is a stronger opener, depending on your curve and opponent, and will let you deal more damage overall after turn 2. This also avoids risking giving up free lands to opponents via Goblin Guide.

Always keep in mind whether or not you intend to pay echo on Mogg War Marshal. If you aren’t going to pay, he makes a great chump blocker or sometimes Goblin Grenade fodder.

Remember when playing with Reckless Bushwhacker, to not vomit your hand onto the board all at once. You need to save that one creature/spell in order to cast him for his surge cost. Without it, he's a 3 cmc 2/1 with haste and not worth it.

I want to thank everyone who has provided additional information about goblins, provided amazing deck lists, and of course solid testing results. If i have missed anything or you catch me on spelling/grammar mistakes, please PRIVATE MESSAGE ME.

(Previous Thread discussion of Modern Goblins can be found here: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=430851 )I would like to Mongol for making the old primer, and to AlanDGray for the original thread. Also to special thanks to Treachtv, Spec.Ops, Zinamogg, Jwelt, Red Mage, and Goblin Gravy for helping with deck ideas, and better yet the primer itself.

Perhaps the most iconic of all of Magic’s creatures, Goblins have been a menace in 60 card decks from kitchen tables to Legacy Grand Prix. With numerous incarnations across the years, it should not come as a great surprise that the little green men have finally come into their own in the Modern format, having emerged in force on Magic Online during February and March 2013 as an inexpensive yet explosively powerful deck. While featuring similar cards to Goblin builds of years past, Modern Goblins has its own distinct identity. This primer is intended to introduce the breakdown of the deck and its card choices.

Modern Goblins leverages the classic combination of cheap, synergetic creatures backed up by burn spells for added reach and removal. This is particularly potent in Modern where multiple decks manabases leave their starting life totals between 14-18 life rather than 20.

This version of Goblins, emphasizing a very low curve to end the game as quickly as possible, is by no means the only version of the deck that can be successful. Versions with more expensive, but powerful creatures that closer resemble Legacy versions of Goblins are also potentially viable and should be discussed here as well. That said, the lower curve version has had a fair amount of success on Magic Online and, consequently, will be the focus of this primer.

It is very important to note that while the focus of this primer due to its success on MTGO this is not the only version of Goblins that exists in Modern. Other versions, most commonly featuring Aether Vial, are viable in their own right and the discussion of these decks is encouraged in this thread as well.

Of the remaining 8 slots, at least 4 should be additional one-mana goblins. This is, in my opinion, essential as the deck demands many one-drops. The best choice of these one-drops depends on a variety of factors to be discussed later.

The final 4 slots are fairly flexible and potential options can also be found below.

The Core

Goblin Guide: Staple one-drop in any red aggro deck since he’s been printed. As efficient a source of early damage as they come. Not much more to say that hasn’t been said elsewhere.

Legion Loyalist: Not very good in multiples and little better than Raging Goblin in some matchups. So is this card worth it? Definitely. When Legion Loyalist is good, he’s great and is your most important card against other creature decks. That said, he has his limitations so don’t be afraid to board out some copies against Combo decks in particular.

Foundry Street Denizen: This guy looks innocuous but he is secretly very powerful. He almost always attacks for 3 on turn two and he has great synergy with practically every creature in the deck. There are lists that choose not to run him but I would never advise cutting him or sideboarding him out.

Goblin Bushwhacker: This is probably the most important card in the deck. The number of things he does is remarkable. Great in multiples but often enough with just one, works extremely well with Mogg War Marshal and other token makers. Being able to pump and give haste to your entire team for just two mana that can’t get broken up by removal is excellent. Never board it out, never cut it.

Mogg War Marshal: Undoubtedly the best token maker, this can sometimes feel like a clunky card but it plays a number of important roles. Great with all of the aforementioned cards, good at protecting against sweepers and a terrific chump blocker in a pinch. The utility card of the deck and another I wouldn’t consider removing.

Goblin Chieftain: Earns his place based on his power level and the need for another power booster/haste granter in addition to Goblin Bushwhacker. That said, not always terrific. He is very weak to instant speed removal and three mana is quite a bit in a deck running 20 or fewer lands. A bit of a necessary evil but don’t hesitate to board some number out if facing lots of targeted removal.

Lightning Bolt: Some say the best card in Modern. Certainly feels like it here. Just terrific return on the mana, at instant speed no less. Gets sideboarded out against many combo decks but still an all-star.

Goblin Grenade: By far the swingiest card in the deck, undeniably powerful and can kill an opponent out of nowhere. That said its conditional nature shouldn’t be overlooked and it is a sorcery. Still a major draw to the deck and leads to fairly easy turn 3 kills.

Mountain: Discussion of non-basic lands and splashes can be found below. In regards to land count, I have found 19-20 to be the right amount for this build but versions without three-drops could go lower and any version reaching four mana or higher would definitely need more.

Possible Additional One Drops

Goblin Cohort: A card I begun with, tested extensively and have moved off of. While he attacks fairly consistently early, very poor in the late game and doesn’t play well with many sideboard cards that want you to take a turn off from playing a creature. Also very poor with Shared Animosity. I have personally moved away from him but he is a reasonable choice in certain builds.

Akki Avalanchers: Certainly has the ability to trade up and/or force through damage. That said, sacrificing a land is very costly in a deck with so few to begin with and 1 toughness doesn’t help sell that. I would not recommend him.

Mogg Fanatic: An iconic goblin that has lost his luster since the M10 rules changes, now may be his time to shine. There are a very large number of 1 toughness creatures that are often important to kill, making the Fanatic an appealing choice at the moment. That said, doesn’t hit nearly as hard as other options. Solid role player but probably not recommended as a full four-of.

Tattermunge Maniac: Definitely the most aggressive option that requires little investment, but its drawback can’t be underestimated.

Aether Vial- A controversial card in modern, this artifact has the ability to bring out your goblins at instant speed, avoiding counter spells and sorcery speed removal. A proven powerhouse, especially in higher curve decklists as shown below, but not at its best when cheating one mana goblins into play.

Possible Support Cards:

Burn/Removal Spells

Flame Slash: Useful card to get past larger creatures at a low cost. Sorcery, however, and can’t go to the face.

Warren Instigator- A more legacy based card, this card has seen play in modern. Paired with legion loyalist, it is a lackey on steroids, giving you the ability to trample damage over and giving you the creature/creatures you need to finish the game. While cheating on mana-costs is very powerful, it may not be the ideal card choice in a lower curve build and is more suited to higher curve versions.

Mudbrawler Cohort- A possible 2/2 with haste, not as high impact as other choices but an option to consider.

Stingscourger- With the ability to bounce creatures to the owners hand, it is a strong tempo play to remove pesky blockers. It does carry a steep echo cost so it is best paired with haste enablers to increase its impact.

Krenko, Mob Boss: Too slow and too expensive. Nonetheless, incredibly powerful and can win a game on his own if unchecked so can’t be written entirely off.

Siege-Gang Commander: Historically the powerhouse finisher of Goblin decks, he has seen play in slower builds but is not a popular choice due to being very expensive and without Goblin Warchief to lessen his casting cost.

Goblin King: Another lord effect. Mountainwalk ranges from excellent to meaningless and not granting haste is a big blow. Not recommended.

Dynacharge: Pretty clunky but a surprising way to pump your team at instant speed.

Hellrider / Hero of Oxid Ridge: More powerful than the other Goblin lords but lack the tribal synergies and, crucially, cost four mana.

Non-Basic Lands

Cavern of Souls: Obviously at its best in a tribal deck, still carries its drawbacks in occasionally preventing explosive finishes with burn spells. Recommended as a two-of.

Tectonic Edge: While seemingly innocuous to include, not a good fit here. The colorless mana is a huge hindrance when stuck on one-two lands and it is often too late to help once it is turned on.

Teetering Peaks: Tempting as a free spell that shocks your opponent but can actually slow down certain hands to the point of being detrimental. Not recommended from my experiences but worth considering.

Mutavault: While attractive on the surface as a powerful man-land that counts as a goblin, its inability to produce red can be very problematic during the early turns. Not recommended.

Gameplay

For the most part, the deck is straightforward in terms of gameplay and there are a few primary ways you will end up winning. The most common way is simply by playing three to four goblins on turns 1-3, followed by a Goblin Bushwhacker, Goblin Chieftain or Shared Animosity type effect on turns 3 or 4. Less commonly you may find yourself with a more burn heavy hand, finishing your opponent with multiple Goblin Grenades and do not require any anthem effects to kill your opponent. Finally, in some matchups, most notably creature mirrors, you will amass many Goblins before unleashing multiple “lord” effects on the same turn to do the full 20 damage or more in a single turn.

Mulligan decisions are somewhat deceiving since much of the deck is based on synergy. Hands with five or more lands should pretty much always be mulliganed and most four land hands are suspect as well. Conversely, the deck is very capable of keeping one-land hands due to the sheer number of one drops, as well as Goblin Bushwhacker and Goblin Grenade as cheap ways to kill an opponent out of nowhere. As a general rule, unless your hand contains your most powerful SB cards in that matchup, I would not keep a hand that was not capable of producing a turn 4 or at least turn 5 kill against a non-resisting opponent without drawing more than any one specific card.

Sideboarding Options

In many ways, Goblins plays out more like a combo deck than an aggressive one and, as such, there is not a ton of room to bring in sideboard cards. One-drops are crucial to making an aggressive start and are hard to sideboard out in large numbers. Similarly, without a density of pump effects, you small creatures won't kill quickly. Be careful not to dilute your deck so greatly with hate cards that you are left unable to kill your opponent. My advice would be to remove your burn spells against control or non-creature based combo decks and to trim your less good creatures, depending on the matchup, against aggro decks.

Smash to Smithereens: One of the three artifact removal spells to consider. Great in many matchups and functions as a pseudo burn spell as well. Recommended.

Shattering Spree- This card is a versatile artifact removal spell whose power scales as the game goes longer. While sorcery speed, it can be devastating against decks such as Affinity.

Traitorous Blood / Mark of Mutiny: Useful cards against decks hoping to stabilize with a large creature, or other decks simply trying to race you with their own creatures.

Combust: Essential sideboard card to help against Twin decks and U/W/R decks. Has many great targets and uncounterability is very strong in these matchups.

Dismember: Always worth considering as a cheap way to get almost any blocker out of the way or otherwise troublesome creature. The life loss can make it risky in some matchups, but it is a very efficient and versatile card nonetheless.

Goblin Assault: An interesting card that helps fight against sweepers as a constant source of creatures in the form of a harder to deal with enchantment. That said, be weary of the “must attack” clause which can be a significant drawback. Also note that it applies to any goblins your opponent may have as well.

Tormod’s Crypt: Provides graveyard hate for free, letting you continue applying pressure rather than disrupt your curve, at the cost of spending a whole card to do so. My personal recommendation for a graveyard hate card.

Relic of Progenitus: Similar to Tormod’s Crypt but it can both net a card in return and be used gradually. That said, represents a more sizable mana investment than it may seem.

Arc Trail: Great at clearing the way against blockers, without threatening your own team while having the ability to go to the face.

Dragon's Claw- While not a popular choice, this artifact improves the race through lifegain against Burn, RDW and Gruul Zoo.

Spellskite- A sideboard staple in Modern, this card serves the dual purpose of protecting many of your most important goblins while also preventing combos such as Splinter Twin and greatly impeding the Bogle deck. While not ideal since it is a non-proactive two-drop, its ability to devastate the plans of certain decks makes it a consideration.

Vexing Shusher- Historically, this creature has seen play in tribal goblins and non goblin decks as a reaction against counterspells. However, with the introduction of Cavern of Souls, this card has seen less play as of late.

Blood Moon: A bit of a controversial card. Certainly powerful and extremely disruptive against many decks, potentially destroying their entire gameplan. Three mana is a lot, however, and can be too slow in some situations, especially at the cost of not developing the board.

Finally, here is another alternative build emphasizing Aether Vial that splashes green, created by jwelt.

Splashes?

I have not personally experimented with splashing. The only version of this build that I have seen that used a splash color was a R/W build piloted by AJ Sacher with the white primarily being used for Boros Charm. White also provides access to Path to Exile, Stony Silence, and Lightning Helix.

While fairly straightforward to play, there are some card interactions that are not immediately apparent and being aware of them can greatly improve your success with this deck. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

• Legion Loyalist has a lot of text and all of it can be relevant against different decks. Keep in mind all of its applications. The token dodging ability in particular will let you steal many post-board games, first strike damage is great against Wurmcoil Engine and the trample ability is quite potent when paired with Shared Animosity
• There are three separate timings of abilities in the deck and it is crucial to remember them, even if they seem obvious.
o Goblin Bushwhacker’s kicked ability triggers when cast and boosts your other creatures even if the Bushwhacker is immediately killed. This often makes it a relatively safe play when attacking into multiple creatures or untapped mana.
o Legion Loyalist and Shared Animosity are both attack triggers. While this is good since it gives you more information while you declare attackers, your plans can be disrupted if either permanent is destroyed before declaring attacks.
o Goblin Chieftain’s ability is static and if he is destroyed mid-combat, your attacking force may suddenly be a lot less impressive. Be sure to take into account the possibility of losing your Chieftain when facing down untapped mana. Also, if Goblin Chieftain is destroyed pre-combat then any Goblins that he had granted haste will lose the ability and not be able to attack if cast that turn.
• Don’t forget that Goblin Bushwhacker can be played unkicked. While it is almost always better to save it until it can be kicked, an unkicked Goblin Bushwhacker paired with a kicked one can let you push through lethal a turn early.
• Sequencing is very important. Don’t get complacent and miss damage with Foundry Street Denizen, Goblin Bushwhacker or Goblin Cohort because you played things slightly out of order.
• Don’t just slam Goblin Guide turn 1 every time. Oftentimes Foundry Street Denizen is a stronger opener, depending on your curve and opponent, and will let you deal more damage overall after turn 2. This also avoids risking giving up free lands to opponents via Goblin Guide.
• Always keep in mind whether or not you intend to pay echo on Mogg War Marshal. If you aren’t going to pay, he makes a great chump blocker or sometimes Goblin Grenade fodder.

The Future

Because of the relative youth of the deck, not even a month old at the time of this writing, it is entirely possible that with further testing, the evolution of the metagame and the release of new sets that Goblins undergoes significant changes as a deck in the near future. Whatever the case, the existing synergies provide a shell from which to build on moving forward.

I love it. It's good to see what people who are actually trying with Goblins in Modern are coming up with. I'd love to see Modern go in the direction of Goblin Sligh, here's hoping for some new goons.

I'm wondering if Stingscourger has a place in the deck, but since these young, up and coming modern Goblins lack long-game inevitability like their Legacy uncles, I'm guessing the best bet is to always try to blow through the big creatures.

I've always found that Goblin Sligh has huge problems with Tarmogoyf. I never like 2-for-1ing myself with Grenade...is Flame Slash the best they can do? It actually doesn't seem so bad considering they won't be FoWing Aether Vials, but being a sorcery means lategame, goyf will be 4/5...

Other than that, it should be a fun challenge for any traditional Goblins player to try and make these guys work in Modern. I won't pretend to know much about the deck right now, but if I have the opportunity in the future I will attend a Modern tournament post a tournament report of my glorious defeat, for the sake of Gobins.

I love it. It's good to see what people who are actually trying with Goblins in Modern are coming up with. I'd love to see Modern go in the direction of Goblin Sligh, here's hoping for some new goons.

I'm wondering if Stingscourger has a place in the deck, but since these young, up and coming modern Goblins lack long-game inevitability like their Legacy uncles, I'm guessing the best bet is to always try to blow through the big creatures.

I've always found that Goblin Sligh has huge problems with Tarmogoyf. I never like 2-for-1ing myself with Grenade...is Flame Slash the best they can do? It actually doesn't seem so bad considering they won't be FoWing Aether Vials, but being a sorcery means lategame, goyf will be 4/5...

Other than that, it should be a fun challenge for any traditional Goblins player to try and make these guys work in Modern. I won't pretend to know much about the deck right now, but if I have the opportunity in the future I will attend a Modern tournament post a tournament report of my glorious defeat, for the sake of Gobins.

Flame Slash is not too bad against Tarmogoyf, if not the greatest. Dismember is probably the best option to deal with Goyf since it either kills him outright or makes him plenty manageable in combat. I prefer Flame Slash because there are plenty of decks capable of punishing the life cost of Dismember but it is a valid option to consider.

I think Zo-Zu the Punisher deserves mention as a playable three-drop. It's probably a little slow on the draw, but making someone pay seven life to fetch a shock must be pretty neat. *At worthy of testing. I stumbled upon him while I was looking to assemble the deck. I understand how critical the pump is from the other cards that could be played instead.

Wow thanks for the primer! I was a goblin player in legacy a while go and it was the best deck and the most funny deck I ever played with, I might build it again in modern just because I love those little guys. I'll probably play the version with aether vial, but how much do you think cavern of souls or mutavault is needed in that version? (Not that I'm complaining about the budget but those 4 cards represent 50% of the cost of the deck on MCM xD)

First, I love goblins and would love to see them playable in modern. I think we need to figure out which version, the agro or Vial, is better and work to make it as strong as possible without worrying about the other. I would have to assume the vial version, like the legacy, would be the most powerful because if you wanted to go straight aggro then it might be better to use gruul aggro instead of goblins. I also feel that even though I love the card Goblin Grenade it is not good enough for modern. It will be aweful against anything with counter and set you back a great deal. I think the deck really needs more land destruction lands, like the legacy version has in the form of Wasteland and Ports.

First, I love goblins and would love to see them playable in modern. I think we need to figure out which version, the agro or Vial, is better and work to make it as strong as possible without worrying about the other. I would have to assume the vial version, like the legacy, would be the most powerful because if you wanted to go straight aggro then it might be better to use gruul aggro instead of goblins. I also feel that even though I love the card Goblin Grenade it is not good enough for modern. It will be aweful against anything with counter and set you back a great deal. I think the deck really needs more land destruction lands, like the legacy version has in the form of Wasteland and Ports.

I'm sorry if I'm wrong but I don't think that we have all that much except ghost quarter to destroy lands, do we really want to play that in this deck? (It's a real question I'm asking you guys ^^) I do think that as in legacy a R/B version might be a bit better with spells as terminate to get rid of Tarmogoyf or fat creatures our opponent might have.

As spells I would see something like 3 terminate, 4 bolts, 4 aether vial and that's pretty much it. Being a R/B version I feel like 20 Lands is good except if you want to play some quarters in this case I would play 22-23 lands :
4 blood crypt
2 dragonskull summit
2 marsh flats (going to look for the crypts and the basic swamp)
11 mountains
1 swamp
(2-3 ghost quarter)

That would leave us with 29 spots for creatures (or 26-27 with the ghosts quarters)

As i'm on my iPhone and it's a bit difficult to give you the list I'm working on for the moment I'll post it when I'm home which is in 2 or 3 hours from now. As everyone I would love to see it make a huge comeback in Magic

I think Zo-Zu the Punisher deserves mention as a playable three-drop. It's probably a little slow on the draw, but making someone pay seven life to fetch a shock must be pretty neat. *At worthy of testing. I stumbled upon him while I was looking to assemble the deck. I understand how critical the pump is from the other cards that could be played instead.

My biggest problem with Zo-Zu the Punisher is that this version of the deck does not make its third land drop on turn 3 consistently. That makes Zo-Zu much slower and less effective. While the Ankh ability can certainly add up, I feel that there are higher impact cards. He does seem very cute as an anti-Scapeshift card to Aether Vial in if you were to play a slower build.

First, I love goblins and would love to see them playable in modern. I think we need to figure out which version, the agro or Vial, is better and work to make it as strong as possible without worrying about the other. I would have to assume the vial version, like the legacy, would be the most powerful because if you wanted to go straight aggro then it might be better to use gruul aggro instead of goblins. I also feel that even though I love the card Goblin Grenade it is not good enough for modern. It will be aweful against anything with counter and set you back a great deal. I think the deck really needs more land destruction lands, like the legacy version has in the form of Wasteland and Ports.

I definitely agree that the low-curve Aggro version and the Vial version are completely different decks that just happen to share some cards and that there strategies and approaches are drastically different.

As for which is better, it is definitely possible that there is a superior Vial version out there that is the best. However, I strongly feel that the low-curve aggro version is superior for a few reasons.

First of all, much of the appeal of a slower Aether Vial version comes from the power of many cards that are not Modern legal. Playing high curve, more powerful goblins is much better when Goblin Lackey and Goblin Warchief are around to help power them out early. Furthermore, that version has card advantage in the form of Gempalm Incinerator, Goblin Matron and Goblin Ringleader that are not available in Modern. Finally, Aether Vial is far better in that deck since it uses Wasteland and Rishadan Port to greatly slow other decks while still putting goblins on the table. There are also much more powerful counterspells, in legacy that are avoided with Vial.

In Modern, there aren't replacements for most of these things. There isn't a reliable source of card advantage or tutoring, there aren't as many ways to cheat out creatures and there aren't the same amount of non-basic lands to play. There are not as many devastating, early counterspells like Daze, Hydroblast and Force of Will. This means that the most efficient way to attack the opponent, with the available card pool, is to be as fast as possible while leveraging certain tribal synergies.

Aether Vial is just far too slow in this type of deck. You would much rather be playing your 1-mana goblins or token makers as quickly as possible to be followed up by a Lord or other pump effect. You don't have the time to use Vial to play around their sweepers and counter spells (which Boros Charm and Cavern of Souls can respectively do while also being proactive cards).

In regards to Gruul Aggro, I have actually found that to be one of this deck's best matchups. That is not to say this is a better deck than Gruul, but it has its advantages over it for sure. While our creatures are much more fragile and less powerful individually, our deck is more explosive and can kill faster in a race or more suddenly on a stalled board. Don't underestimate the ability of Goblin Bushwhacker, Shared Animosity or Goblin Grenade to end a seemingly even game out of nowhere.

And speaking of Goblin Grenade, I definitely think it has earned its place. Counters really are not that big of an issue because this build is so fast that an opponent who is relying on holding back their counterspells to slow you is not going to be able to keep up. Counterspells are also not that prominent. Think of Grenade as you might Fireblast in a burn deck. It will definitely set you back significantly if they counter it and it is very bad when not used as a finisher, but it is worth it when you simply want to end the game as quickly as possible.

Too slow. You want to be spending your turn 2 by either playing 2 one-drops or a token maker since this enables Foundry Street Denizen and Legion Loyalist to be followed up by your Bushwhacker, Chieftain or Animosity. This leads you to some turn 3 kills if your opponent can't interact with you and turn 4 or 5 finishes otherwise. Shrine is a great card at giving you late-game reach, but this deck can't afford to give up its early board development for that purpose.

The Black splash gives us acces to : Terminate, I don't think I really need to explain that card, a really good anti-creatures can get rid of Tarmogoyf and other big creatures we don't want to deal with.

It also gives us Mad Auntie. What I like about her is the fact she can regenerate another goblin, so thanks to her you can block a huge creature with a little one without any problem.

Here I've decide to make a 2/2 cut with Goblin King as I don't find mountainwalk super good (I might be wrong but still ^^).

Last but not least, I would like to find 2 spots for Spikeshot Elder as I've discovered the card in the primer and totaly forgot about it.

Yes my version loses some explosiveness of the non vial or the mono red version, but I truely believe a more tempo version is the way (or MY way should I say) to go, even if I can see the good points about playing a fast/aggro version of the deck.

The problem of the ruinblaster is that you can't kick him if you played him with vial which makes you cast it so it would be in the 4 drops. I don't think we have to make "land destruction" our primary plan, it just has to help us reach the later game.

See the thing with the shamanism deck (which i love by the way), it has bosk, as you mentioned, reducing its mana cost. A goblin of converted mana cost of 3, that card better come down and change the game, rather than just destroy a land.

I rather run avalanche riders just because its a 2/2 and says target land, just non basic.

I just come back from the Legacy Goblin thread and I've read something interesting :

Making all your opponent spell cost one more thanks to Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is the same than destroying one of their land, plus it fits really good with Aether Vial and open a lot of side material.